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Sunday, February 6, 2011

Steeler Nation

Superbowl fever abounds, and I anxiously await the game with my husband and mother.  An avid Carolina Panthers fan, my husband is happy to cheer for the Steelers after their abysmal season. My husband recently saw an article on Yahoo! news or some equivalent media outlet about how a county in Pennsylvania wants to change their name from "Greene" to "Black and Gold".  He couldn't understand how this could be.  He couldn't understand how a county could feel this strongly about a sports team.

(After further research, I found that Greene county was temporarily renaming the county to Black and Gold County for Superbowl week to coincide with a "Tail-gate" party to benefit the local humane society.)

This brought up further discussion about team support.  My husband believes that it's great to support your team, but that it is just a game and any further endorsement is unnecessary and excessive.  He couldn't understand this mindset and commitment to a sports team.  I told him that this was further proof that the Pittsburgh and it's surrounding area has produced the best sports fans in the world.  The feeling a Steeler fan has when she walks into a bar on the Southside is incomparable. Even more awe inspiring is one's first Steeler or Penguin game.  Pirates games are less exciting, but asking for three successful sports teams in one city is exorbitant.  Even walk into one of the thousands of Steeler bars around the nation and you can feel the electricity in the air.  No other team has so many dedicated fan bases as do the Steelers.  Any city of any size will have one of these Steeler bars, where you can crack an I.C. Light and discuss the defense with a guy from Aliquippa, relocated because of work but holding strong that Steeler praise.  We were born of dirt and sweat and grit, to hard working families.  Steelers playing reflects this working class mentality.  It may not be a pretty game, but they work hard to get the job done.

This is one of the many reasons it is so good to be a Steeler fan in a Steeler nation.  Regardless of who wins the game tonight, I have always been and will always be a fan of the black and gold.  Go Steelers!

1 comment:

  1. It was a close and dirty game!! I love this Post Kate! It is so very true!! :)

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